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Asked by anon-227005 to William, Thibaut "Tibo", Harry, Georgia, Emily, Aimee on 9 Nov 2019.
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Harry Wilkinson answered on 9 Nov 2019:
It’s not really about how many we can find but how many we can make!
On Earth the heaviest naturally occurring element is Uranium, every element that we see after that on the periodic table is man-made.
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Georgia Orton answered on 9 Nov 2019:
Yes, exactly what Harry says!
In theory we could continue making bigger elements but their massive size means they are so unstable that they would fall appart (normally before we can detect them).
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Aimee Egglestone answered on 11 Nov 2019:
To the best of my knowledge there’s no real limit on how many can theoretically exist somewhere in the universe – however in the conditions we live in on earth, as Harry and Georgia have said, we are limited to what is stable in our atmospheric conditions!
On the Periodic table I have in front of me right now (Which is admittedly very out of date) there are 26 elements which are heavier than Uranium (the heaviest naturally occurring element), so that’s 26 elements that we have made and which have remained stable enough to detect!
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Thibaut Deviese answered on 11 Nov 2019:
I think with the exploration of other planets we may discover new elements but it is impossible to say how many….
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